The Woolf Institute

The Woolf Institute is an academic institute in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1998 by Dr Edward Kessler MBE and the Revd Professor Martin Forward, and now located in central Cambridge on the Westminster College Site,[1] it is dedicated to the study of interfaith relations between Jews, Christians and Muslims.[2] Using research and education to explore the relationship between religion and society, it aims to foster greater understanding and tolerance.

The Woolf Institute
Former name
The Centre for Jewish-Christian Relations
Established1998
FounderEdward Kessler, Martin Forward
Academic affiliation
University of Cambridge
PresidentEdward Kessler
DirectorDr. Esther-Miriam Wagner
Location
Cambridge, United Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Woolf Institute Building

Beginning as the Centre for Jewish-Christian Relations, the institute expanded throughout its history to include the Centre for the Study of Muslim-Jewish Relations and the Centre for Policy and Public Education. In 2010, these centers were combined and renamed as The Woolf Institute in honour of Lord Harry Woolf, a patron of the institute and former Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales.[3]

Pedestrian entrance to the Woolf Institute Building

The institute is an associate member of the Cambridge Theological Federation which brings together eleven institutions through which people of different denominations, including Anglican, Methodist, Eastern Orthodox, Reformed and Roman Catholic, train for various forms of Christian ministry and service.[4]

History

The Woolf Institute was established in 1998 as The Center for Jewish-Christian Relations to "provide an academic framework and space in which people could tackle issues of religious difference constructively." In 2010, it combined with The Centre for the Study of Muslim-Jewish Relations and the Centre for Policy and Public Education, and the institute was renamed to The Woolf Institute.[5]

In 2019, the institute set out to explore how to tackle extremism in the United Kingdom, and to find a way to measure different levels of extremism.[6]

Teaching

The Woolf Institute works together with the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust and the Cambridge Overseas Trust to offer the Woolf Institute Cambridge Scholarship, a PhD scholarship for the study of relations between Jews, Christians and Muslims.[7] It also contributes to the MPhil in Middle East Studies at the University of Cambridge,[8][9] and offers a Professional Doctorate in collaboration with the Cambridge Theological Federation and Anglia Ruskin University.[10]

Patrons

Inter-faith patrons

Honorary vice-presidents
  • Rev Dominic Fenton (Chair of Trustees: 2003-2007)
  • Mr John Pickering (Chair of Trustees: 2007-2010)
  • Lord Khalid Hameed CBE (Chair of Trustees: 2010-2016)

See also

References
  1. "Woolf Institute · Madingley Rd, Cambridge CB3 0UB, United Kingdom". Woolf Institute · Madingley Rd, Cambridge CB3 0UB, United Kingdom.
  2. "Improving relations between religion and society". The Woolf Institute. 25 October 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  3. "Our Story". 14 October 2021.
  4. "Home". theofed.cam.ac.uk.
  5. "Our Story". The Woolf Institute. 25 October 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  6. Curtis, Adrian (15 March 2019). "Cambridge's Woolf Institute to lead discussions on how to combat fundamentalism and extremism in the UK". Cambridge Independent. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  7. "Woolf Institute | Our partners". www.cambridgetrust.org. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  8. "Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies | Dept of Middle Eastern Studies | Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies | Graduate Studies | MPhil". Archived from the original on 11 December 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
  9. "Woolf Institute - MPhil in Middle East Studies at the University of Cambridge, Woolf Institute collaboration". www.woolf.cam.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013.
  10. "Professional Doctorate". The Woolf Institute. 25 October 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2020.

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